Monday, December 29, 2014

December 29th, 2014

This email is probably going to be short because I don't have much more time to email, but I wanted to say.... HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I hope that all of you have an amazing time this Thursday and are safe!

I am really looking forward to this new full year that I will have in the mission and I am so excited because I am staying in Chao! Yes we had transfers, but both Elder Farnsworth and I are both staying in Chao and are both really happy!

I look forward to this change and look forward to miracles here in this area! We hope to have around 4 baptisms this change, but we will have to see what happens!

Monday, December 22, 2014

December 22nd, 2014

Dear Family,

This week once again has been such a crazy week! To start off the week, Monday after emailing we got a call from our mission president and he told us that Elder Meaker would be going to a zone up in Trujillo to be a zone leader, and so Monday and Tuesday we prepared all of his stuff and took him up to Trujillo. So that means that Elder Farnsworth and I are co-companions because we are from the exact same group and have the exact same time in the mission! It is honestly crazy if you were to ask me how this all ended up happening.This week we didn't have a lot of time to teach anyone because of our shows up in Trujillo and so I don't really have news about special visits that we had this week, but our Christmas shows were so great! Since Elder Farnsworth and I were both in a groups we stayed up in Trujillo from Friday to Sunday. We also had the best room to stay in while we were up in Trujillo, which is the office elder's house. Their house is 3 doors down from the Presidents house and so the night after the first show we were invited over to the President's house to have popcorn and choclate chip cookies! Also that next morning we had French toast at the President's house!The Christmas shows turned out really great! The first night there was a protest against some dumb thing, but the police guys made them leave the Plaza. I think in total from both the nights of the show, there were about 3 thousand people that came and saw the show. Now, I am not completely sure how accurate that number is, but I am sure it was close to that. We received a ton of references from the two nights and the spirit was so strong as our mission sang of glad tidings of great joy!

Well, I love you all and I hope you all have amazing weeks and a very Merry Christmas!!!

Monday, December 15, 2014

December 15th, 2014

Dear Family,

Well my 5 month mark has come! I can't believe how fast this time has gone! This week for me was pretty good!

Basically I met a lot more people here in Chao and taught a bunch of lessons! My companions and I were able to find a couple of really awesome new investigators to teach and to bring the gospel in their lives. I am super excited for this next week because we are going to be having our Christmas show in Trujillo! I will be singing in the Choir as a whole mission, a group of 5 with my new compainons and 2 other Elders (singing

Far Far Away in Judea) and with my old Companion (The First Noel) I am super excited to bring the spirit of Christmas to so many different people here in Peru!

Also on the 25th we are going to be having a talent show, and let me just tell you that my district has come up with a sketch that will go down in history books! We are super excited to share it with our mission!

This time of year is so great and I am so grateful that so many people remember our Savior at this time. I love teaching about the Savior and his atonement. I feel so close to him as I teach of his perfect and infinite sacrifice for us!

I am sorry that this is so short, but I want all of you to know that I love you all so much and that I hope you have amazing weeks!

Monday, December 8, 2014

December 8th, 2014

Dear Family,

So this week has been really interesting. Last P-day my companion and I got a call from the assistants and they told us that we were no longer going to be together this change because a new missionary was coming in for some reason, and so my P-day consisted of packing my things and practicing the song that Elder Diaz and I are singing for the Christmas show. So what ended up happening is my old companion is now training a new missionary and I am now in a new area called Chao with 2 other gringos! Crazy right! My mission has been pretty crazy to start out if you were to ask me! I haven't had a clean change yet, but like it says in 3 nephi 7, I will go and do what the Lord wants me to do. I know that he needs me in this area at this time and I am so happy to be here! My new companions are Elder Farnsworth (from my group) and Elder Meaker who has less than a year in the mission.

I can't tell you enough how much I just love Chao! I love the people and the place so much! Chao is a lot different than Chimbote. Chimbote was extremely rich and where I am at is one of the most poor places in the mission. All the people here are so humble and so loving. I have had a few lessons already that the spirit has been incredibly strong and I knew that these people have been prepared by God to hear his gospel at this time. Our pensionista is so amazing. She is the wife of our branch president and she is so loving and always wants to come out with us to serve. Plus our branch president only has 2 years in the church and he is so awesome! There are 5 elders in Chao, and one of them also happens to be one of my good buddies from the CCM, Elder Craft. He is from PG and has became one of my good friends.

Sunday I had the opportunity to help with a baby blessing, which was incredible. President Eyring gave a talk in the Christmas devotional, which we only saw a little of it, but he talked about his great grandchild being born. I can tell you that I felt, just as he did, the light of Christ in this infant. The spirit was so strong and I could feel Christ's love as 5 of us men holding the priesthood of God blessed this infant.

Well that was pretty much my week! I love all of you and am excited to see what's next down here in Chao!

Monday, December 1, 2014

December 1st, 2014

Dear Family,

Well I can't believe it! We have hit December. It is crazy how fast time flies, and I know that I say that all the time, but it truly does go by so fast! This past week was so great! We have been working with the members a lot for the past while, and this week we had more success with the members than we have ever had! It is crazy how big of a difference the lessons are when we have a member with us. I feel like it is a lot easier for the people to accept the gospel when they have someone that can always be by their side, like President Gordon B. Hinckley says. Every investigator in this church needs an amigo!

This last week we had a training for leaders which was really good! I learned so much and have started applying some of the stuff that I learned in my life as a missionary. After our training we went to Pizza Hut which was pretty good, but nothing like the states. Today for P-day we are going to a pizza buffet and so I will have to see how good Peruvian Pizza is!

This last week we had a lesson with a less active that has been progressing really well, and his daughter is preparing for baptism! Our lesson was on the Priesthood and the blessings of the priesthood. The spirit was so strong as we taught and bore testimony of this amazing gift that God gives to us. I am so grateful that I hold the Priesthood of God and that I have the authority to act in his name!

Monday, November 24, 2014

November 24th, 2014

Dear Family,

Well This week as you all know is Thanksgiving and since I won't be able to celebrate down here in Peru I want all of you to know how thankful I am for you and for the affect that you all have had on my life! You all have helped to make me the person that I am today, and so thank you for that!

This past week has been so great! My companion and I have been focusing more on Christ, and our plan is to not go through a lesson without focusing on Christ, because it is through him that any of this is possible. It is through him that this great work is able to happen, and so everything that we do in our lives should be focused on Christ. I love this gospel so much and am always in awe of the infinite Atonement!

This week we taught a couple of families that were struggling with a few things in their lives. We taught about how incredible the healing power of the Atonement is. As my companion and I testified to them of the truthfulness of this incredible act, I saw the love that our Savior has for everyone as their eyes filled with tears. I don't believe that any of us will ever be able to understand the atonement perfectly, nor the power that it has to make us whole, but what I do know is that our Savior loves us perfectly and infinitely and that it is only through him that we can became better and more like our Father in Heaven.

I hope that you all have an amazing week and an amazing Thanksgiving this week! Once again I want you all to know how grateful I am for you and the affect that you have had on my life! I love you all and God be with you till we write again!

Monday, November 17, 2014

November 17th, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been so great! Not a whole lot of different things going on, but this week just has been so great! Elder Diaz and I had more lessons than we have ever had! We normally average around 26 a week, but this week we had 35! We taught a lot of new investigators, which was good because we have been looking for new investigators to teach. I am pretty sure that I have lesson one down, because I think we taught it a good 20 times this week, but the thing is, every time we taught it, it was different! Yes the principles are the same, but as we teach, we teach to the needs of the people and not the needs of the lesson. Each lesson we teach is unique in its own way and I feel like this is the best way that the people can feel the spirit!

Along with this great week, I have hit 4 months living in Peru! This is so crazy to me, because I don't think I have spent more than 2 weeks away from living at home! I have enjoyed every moment that I have had in Peru, and will continue to enjoy every moment I have here! Also, this week is transfers! My companion and I are staying together for this transfer, so we are both extremely happy for that!

This last transfer I have really been trying to study in the Book of Mormon and understand it a little better. This has been a little difficult because I am reading it in Spanish, so I understand almost all of it, but not all of it. I am half way through Alma, and I hope to finish by Christmas!

I don't have much more to write, but I love you all and pray for you every night!

Monday, November 10, 2014

November 10th, 2014

Dear Family,

This week for me has been so fantastic! I have so much to say, but such little time to say it, so I will try to say it all in a simplified version.

So the beginning of this week was pretty much normal. We taught a bunch of lessons, probably more than we have ever taught in the past at the beginning of the week. We encountered a few new investigators that have been searching for the gospel in their lives for a while now. Elder Diaz and I are super excited to start teaching them and share the good news that this great gospel has!

My cough has died down and I think the bronchitis has gone away, so that is some good news for you. This week we have been fed some really interesting food. I'm not sure why our pension has been feeding us this food, but lately we have had cow heart, squid, octopus, some really weird soup that smells like fish, and this really weird, well just something else really weird that I have no idea what it is.

Along with all the weird food, something else happened that was extremely weird and foreign! IT RAINED! Oh how grateful I was for this. I haven't seen rain in 4 months and so I was so excited for the rain!

So on Saturday we practiced for a really big activity for a stake in Chimbote, where there would be Mormon messages, testimonies, and musical talents. The missionaries were asked to do all of the music part of the program and so we practiced our singing. My companion and I were asked to sing a part in "I know that my Redeemer Lives" and so we practiced that a lot Saturday night. Then late that night we got a call and were asked to sing a song together of our choice.

We chose one of my favorite hymns, "How Great Thou Art" and practiced that all night.

The time came to perform and I was a little nervous, because there were over a thousand people at this performance. I said a prayer in my heart and was filled with the comfort of the Holy Ghost. The spirit was so strong in this performance, and I know many peoples lives were touched by it.

That was pretty much my week, but before I leave, I have one last thing to say!

We had a baptism for Dario! It was so great to see the fruits of the work that has been done here in this area, and we look forward in seeing many more fruits come forth!

Monday, November 3, 2014

November 3rd, 2014

Dear family,

This week has been pretty good for me! Well actually I should share with you some news.. I have some good news and some bad news and so I think I will share the bad news first so we can end on a good note!

The bad news is, I have had a wicked cough for about a month now and we didn't know what was going on because I kept taking all of the medicine for coughs and nothing was helping, and so we went to the clinic and it turns out that I have bronchitis.

The good news is, they thought that I might have had Tuberculiosus but after some tests they did it turns out that I don't, so that was good! I think I am getting better with all of this medicine that I am talking, but honestly I don't feel sick or anything like that, just every once in a while I get this cough that I can't stop for about a half and hour.. I am sure I will be completely fine by next week!

More news is that I'm pretty positive that I am growing, becuase I have growing pains, and I haven't had these pains for years now. My district thinks that I am growing too, so we will have to measure myself. Not sure if this was good news or bad news.. haha

Other than this news, this week has been so great! Elder Diaz and I taught a bunch of lessons and had a really good turn-out to sacrament meeting. We had 11 less actives and 6 investigators attend! We were super excited for all the people that came! Some more news is that we are for sure having a baptism this week for Hermano Dario! He has been with us for about a month now and his desires and actions have resulted in this week being baptized.

The people here are still so loving and caring! The food here is so great, although I do miss American food. Sometimes rice gets old, but every once in a while we are surprized with having a plate that doesn't have rice on it!

It is getting super hot here and a couple days ago I got sunburnt, and so I think I am going to have to start wearing sunscreen! Well I don't have much more to say! The mission is great, the spanish is coming along, and I love you all so much!

Monday, October 27, 2014

October 27th, 2014

Dear Family,

Wow this week went by extremely fast! I can't believe that we are in the last week of October! This change has gone by so fast for me which honestly isn't a good sign! It is crazy how fast my days go by as I have appointments and stuff to do every half hour!

This week for me was so great! It wasn't a normal week for me, because on Thursday I got on a plane to go back to Lima. I had to go to Lima because I needed to do some more paperwork for my Visa so that I can be Legal.. I think that I will be going back again in a few weeks to pick up my actual Peruvian ID! In Lima I stayed in a hotel room, which was extremely weird because I didn't have a companion with me. The other elders and I had Papa John's for dinner and ate at the distribution center for lunch the next day.

That was all fun, but the main reason why I loved being in Lima is because I was able to go through the temple! The session that I went through was extremely spiritual for me and I received so many answers! The temple truly is such a great blessing for me in my life! I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go to Lima and do a session in the temple!

This week Elder Diaz and I have been working really hard with a couple investigators that are extremely close to entering the gate of baptism. We are super excited for them and are trying to do our best in assisiting them in their desires to follow Christ! Along with them, Elder Diaz and I have been working with some less actives! We have been trying to set goals with them as to when they would like to enter into the temple as a family! Temples have honestly been our focus as we teach less active families, and is our focus in general, because that is where our Father in Heaven wants all of his children to return to!

I am so grateful for the temple in my life and the blessings from the temple. I look forward to the day that I will be able to make more covenants with my Father in Heaven, and with my future wife, to have an eternal family!

Monday, October 20, 2014

October 20th, 2014

Dear family,

This week has been so good! Elder Diaz and I have been working extremely hard and our work, well not our work, but the Lord's work has really shown! This week we visited a lot of less active families which was really good. One family that we visited was one that we have been visiting for a long time. They have received all of the lessons and are reactivating! We taught them about temples on Sunday and eternal families. It made me think of how blessed I am to know the truthfulness of the temple and the blessings that we can receive. It also made me think of how much I want to go to the temple and be sealed and have an eternal family.

This week we also visited with a couple new investigators which, in the first visit it is really important that the investigators know our purpose and that we are here to invite others to follow the example of Christ and be baptized. So every new investigator we invite to be baptized. These 2 new ones this week look really promising, and I feel like they are prepared to hear the message that we have. They both accepted to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized and so we have been working with both of them in understanding and gaining a testimony of the gospel, but most importantly becoming converted.

Well that was pretty much my week. The mornings of P-day are really fun because we play basketball at 5:30! The Latinos always want to face us North American's and so me and two other elders always mess around with the Latinos. It is pretty fun! One last thought before I go... I am convienced and positive that if Elder Diaz and I were to join the olympics fast walking event we would win every time!

Love,

Elder Thorpe

Oh I forgot to say that my companion and I tried out for the Christmas show down here for our mission and so we will be singing The First Noel together. I am super excited!!

Monday, October 13, 2014

October 13th, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been so great! Same with last week and since I didn't write last week I thought that I would give a short update of last week.

Last week I was with a bunch of different people. I went from my area to other areas, but with the same purpose every place that I was in. I have really improved my Spanish these last 2 weeks, as I have only been allowed to speak in Spanish because I have no one to speak English with, so that was really good.This week I got a new companion, Elder Diaz, and he is so awesome! He is one of the 'big names' of the mission because of his success and power house zone that he lead. I have already learned so much from him. Our area has progressed in these short few days with us being together than it has in the past! I honestly can see such a great future for the ward that we are in and I feel like we are going to start to see growth really soon!

General Conference was so great! I learned so much from each of the speakers and have started to apply their teachings into my life and mission already! I was fortunate to watch conference in English, and so yes I could understand everything! The spirit was so strong and honestly all I was thinking is, 'Is conference seriously already over?' I love conference and I hope that all of you enjoyed it as much as me!

This week we have a baptismal date and so we will have to see if that sticks, or if it will be moved again.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

October 6th, 2014

My mini missionary actually was only with me for a couple of days, but the rest of the week I was with latinos, so everything was still all in spanish! This week was so great for me! I could tell that my spanish has gotten a lot better, maybe not the words, but the way I speak and the way I form sentences!

To be honest, I'm not sure what happened to Elder Porter. The President called me and told me that I have a new companion, Elder Diaz, and that Elder Porter needed to be up in Trujillo for his health. I'm guessing he must just be really sick or something.

Frank has a new date for the 18 of October and this time I don't think it will be moving, but it isn't for sure.

I am glad to hear that you enjoyed conference and that you were able to go to Priesthood session. It is going to be weird not being in a priesthood session with my Dad for the first time in 8 and a half years!

Since I'm not sending a long letter I wanted to send a few updates for you and the family.

This week has been pretty good! The main events of this week were,

1. In my area we taught a lot of less actives

2. I taught an English class in one of my investigators homes.

3. I think I have grown a little bit...

4. I'm not sure if the last point is true.

5. I love all of you and I hope to send more of a letter next week of how last week was for me and this next week because I don't have much more time to write!

Dear Mom,

I am so happy to hear that you received my letters! Also I am happy to hear that you loved conference and that it was really good for you! As I said in my letter that I sent with the picture, I am not going to write a huge letter, because I have to spend time doing family search stuff, so hopefully next week I will be able to let you all know how these 2 weeks will be!

I am so happy to hear how the family is doing and that Ashlee's imagination is off the walls! This week has been so great for me, and I learned so much! I know that I needed this week, and I know that because of it I am going to be able to be that much greater of a missionary because of my experience this week!

Mom, I love you so much, and I think about you all the time! There is a song that one of the Elders has here that is sometimes hard to listen to because it talks about saying bye to your mom, and it truly is the hardest thing to do!

I really hope you know that I love you and I am so grateful for you!

I pray for you always and I hope that you will have a fantastic week this week!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

September 29th, 2014

Dear Family,

Well to start off this letter, I think I want to just tell all of you how much I appreciate you and love you! You truly are amazing and don't let anyone tell you differently!

Anyways, My week has been pretty good. Elder Porter has been pretty sick and so we have been staying in for him to rest a little. We had a bunch of lessons with this one investigator named Carlos. He really wants to get baptized, but he has problems with the Palabra de Sabiduría.. (word of wisdom) but we set a goal with him to really pray hard and ask our father in heaven for strength to quit drinking, and to have a date in mind to live this commandment. We also taught a couple new investigators, which one of them was kind of crazy. He was preaching to us (he is catholic) and he said the missionaries gave him a folleto of the restoration of the gospel, and so he said he read it and did just as Joseph Smith did and prayed to God to know which church was true... He said God came to him in a dream and told him the Catholic church was the true church.. ha interesting guy.. Our food is still amazing, and so are the people!

Well enough about all of that.. I have some pretty crazy news..

So my companion got called up to Trujillo for some reason and so I was supposed to be spending my week in a trio. Well the zone leaders talked with me and told me that I would be in my area with a companion that isn't in the mission. In fact, he is leaving for a mission in about a week. Basically what this means is that I have gone from being the one who was in training, to senior companion and partial trainer.. I'm pretty sure my training is getting cut 7 weeks early, but it's ok because if this is what my father in heaven wants, then that is what will happen!

Also, this week I don't get to watch general conference. There are elections here in Peru on the 5th and so we get to watch general conference in 2 weeks.. Well I am a little nervous about this week, but I am also super excited!

Monday, September 22, 2014

September 22nd, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been really good! Even though our numbers might have been down, due to the lack of people being home, this week still wasn't too bad. My Spanish has really picked up, and the ability to understand the people here has become a lot better. I feel so blessed every time I come out of a lesson and I could understand everything that we talked about. Everything seems to be coming a lot easier for me and as I have been learning so much from the scriptures and my companion, I feel that my relationship with my father in heaven and the spirit has strengthened tremendously.

On Sunday I was able to give a talk in church, which as a missionary you really don't have time to prepare a talk for church, so what I did was I wrote down 4 different scriptures on a topic I felt was needed to be discussed, and shared my thoughts about them. I thought that I would only be able to talk for 5 minutes because I didn't know that many words, but to my amazement, and knowing the type of speaker I am, I ended up speaking for 20 minutes! As you can imagine our meeting went a little long because of this, but that is ok, because I think the reason I was able to speak for this long is because the Lord needed this to be heard by the people here.

Well once again we have a false alarm for Frank. He endeed up having to travel to Trujillo for a couple of weeks and so his new baptisimal date is for the second Saturday in October.

Other than this, my week has consisted of walking and not a whole lot of success. Elder Porter and I probably walked for a good 30 miles this week. We taught few lessons, so this next week I'm really hoping for more success and less walking!

Well that's pretty much all for this week, but before I leave, I have a funny thing about what the people here call me. The people here either call me, Elder Thor, or Thor of Asgard, because they think I'm like him and mostly because of the last name Thorpe.

Monday, September 15, 2014

September 15th, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty great! In fact, I have learned so much this week from my personal studies, even though we only have an hour a day to study. I have learned so much from Predicar mi Evangelio and in Doctrina y Convenios. I never realized how much Doctrina y Convenios can help me as a missionary. It has honestly given me so much strength throughout my days, as they are long and very difficult, but as I have been reading, I have more of a desire to work and serve even harder than I am able to and that is because if we put all our trust and faith in the Lord we are able to serve and are blessed with unimagineable things. The amount of strength that I receive has honestly amazed me, and I feel so blessed, because I know that without it, I wouldn't be able to do this work.

This week Elder Porter and I taught a lot of different and new people. We received so many contacts from members this week and so we have I think a total of 7 new investigators. Along with that, we have been teaching a lot of Menos activos throughout our days, and I honestly have seen so much progress in so many different people.

We also had stake conference this week, so the baptism was a false alarm. The baptism is now this Saturday for sure and I am still super excited for Frank and his decision of being baptized. Elder Porter and I have been working really hard with getting all of the blessings and ordinances down in Spanish, well mainly for me because he already knows them, but I am happy to say that I have them all memorized and not only this but we have given multiple blessings throughout this week!

Today for P-day we are going up to some mountain with a church at the top of it, so hopefully I will be able to take some pictures and send them home!

Thank you for all of your love and letters. I appreciate them so much and I have so much joy as I read them! I love you all and I pray for you every night!

Monday, September 8, 2014

September 8th, 2014

Well another week has gone by, and let me just say, it was so fantastic! Elder Porter and I have had a lot of success and I know that this is because of how focused and how hard we have been working! This Saturday we are having a baptism for Frank and I know that he is going to be such a strong member of this church! We also had a lot of investigators and less actives come to church with us yesterday, which was just so great!

Along with all of this we taught a lot of lessons and got to know a lot of the ward members. Speaking of ward members, our pension is at the bishops house, and all I can say is I have never had meals as big as the ones I have every single day here! Like we at least eat a good 8000 calories a day, but we work out a lot so I'm staying in shape!

Once a month for P-day we are allowed as a zone to watch an animated movie, so last p-day we watched how to train your dragon 2 which was awesome, even if it was in Spanish. Oh and by the way, Movies here come out when they are in theatres, and not in bad quality, but good bluray quality, and in English, so I might come home with some movies since they are only about 2 soles here which isn't even a dollar back home! Oh I forgot to say, that after emailing we are going to play basketball and so I'm super excited!

Well that is pretty much my week! Hope everything is well back at home and everyone is doing great!

Monday, September 1, 2014

Sept. 1, 2014

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well I have been here out in the field for a whole week! Let me tell you it has been so crazy. I am in a place called Chimbote, which is the fish capital of Peru, and so it's hard to believe it but I sort of like fish now. My companion is Elder Porter and he is from Provo Utah. He is a really good guy. The first day here we did a lot of training and had a couple classes. Elder Porter and I had to stay the night in Trujillo because Chimbote is 3 hours away from Trujillo. So we got here on Wednesday and met a lot of ward members. We didn't do a whole lot of teaching on Wednesday, but we picked it up on Thursday.

Thursday we taught a couple less active members and and investigator named Soledad. I'm hoping that she is really feeling the spirit and progressing a lot. We have been teaching a lot of different people, mostly less actives, because that has really been our focus. Also we work a lot with the ward members here which is so great!

Other than that, that is pretty much how my week has gone. I love you all and I hope you all have amazing week!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

August 14th, 2014

This week went by so fast. It feels like just yesterday was P-day, but I'm glad that I have the opportunity to write today! I want to thank all of you for your prayers and love that you send my way! I can feel of your love and prayers every day and I appreciate all of you and the love that you have!

This week has been so great. I have learned so much in Spanish and from the Book of Mormon! The Book of Alma is so great and I just love reading in it because it's all about missionary work! Well there is a ton of things in the book but I love reading about the missionary work in it.

Anyways, to start off my week, I had the opportunity to go out and proselyte for the second time! Last time I went to Lima central and this time I went to Lima North. Both places are high in poverty, but Lima North is more of a poor area. My companion was Elder Jesus, and he is so great! Together we got assigned to teach less active families and the area that we were assigned was on top of the mountain! We taught this one family and I was able to bear testimony to them with my broken Spanish but it was all good. We also committed them to go to church on Sunday. The next visit we had was with a 17 year old boy. We taught about the Savior and the importance of the sacrament. When my companion closed I told him that I wanted to say something to the boy. As I looked this 17 year old in the eyes I could tell that he was lost and needed help. I looked at him straight in the eye and said..

-I don't know a whole lot of Spanish, but what I do know is that you have a Heavenly Father that loves you and cares about you. He wants you to progress and return to him one day and you can do that through Jesus Christ, and Partaking of the sacrament. I know that my Savior lives, and through him and his atonement, I can become like him, and I know that you can too!

The entire lesson he never looked up at us, but when I testified I saw light in his eyes. We committed him to go to church on Sunday and I have a feeling that he is no longer going to be a less active member.

That experience was so great for me and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to be in the area that I was in. Before heading down the mountain my companion and I stood, looking out to the valley and I imagined us as Alma and the sons of Mosiah looking out to the land of the Lamanites ready to teach. One of the maestros came with us and took our picture, so I'm hoping to get that and send it home!

The rest of this week was pretty good. I learned a lot in the scriptures and applied the doctrine to my life. I also feel like I had a mini revalation while reading in Alma 25, which was super exciting. I feel like Alma 25 has a deeper doctrine then what it seems to say in the scriptures..

Anyways, I'm having such a great time here and I love this gospel! As Elder Holland says, The gospel means everything to me! I want all of you to know that I love you so much, and you all are so great! I pray for all of you every night, and I hope you know how much I care about you! Once again, I love you and I hope that you all have fantastic weeks and I look forward to writing you next week!

Thursday, August 7, 2014

August 7th, 2014

Dear Family,

Wow this week has gone by so fast it is crazy! Each day seems to be blending in together! This third week that I have been here at the CCM has been one of the most spiritual weeks I have had thus far. Since the last time I wrote, I went to Caral (the ancient city in Peru) taught numerous investigators, learned a ton of spanish, and finished half of El Libro de Mormon! It has amazed me how much I have been able to do as all the worldly things have been put aside.

Also this week, Elder Wadel from the 70 came and spoke to us which was so awesome! He taught us what our mission is, which is not to baptize, but convert! I think that hearing from him was really good for all of us missionaries, because our focus has changed to be completely on the temple instead of baptizing. You get to the temple through baptism and that is why the temple is the focus and goal!

So let me explain the whole investigator thing. As a companionship we get to go to a room where we have about 15 minutes to teach a role playing teacher. My companion and I have taught about 20 discussions, had 5 challenges, and 4 commitments to baptism! You could say that we are doing pretty good. I want to share with you an experience that I had with one of my investigators. This was about five days ago, and this is what my journal entry said.

So we first started off teaching Alberto tonight about the spirit world. We had two scriptures we wanted to share, but as we read the one scripture, I looked up at Alberto and saw that he wasn´t really listening. A prompting then came to me that we shouldn´t be sharing these scriptures and that he needed to hear why we were here on this Earth. I stopped my companion in the middle of the scripture and there was an awkward silence. I then asked Alberto why he thought he was here and he said he didn't know. This is when I bore testimony to him why we were here on this Earth, and that was to grow, progress, and become like our Savior Jesus Christ. As I bore testimony tears filled my eyes and I looked up and there were tears in Alberto´s eyes. I'm not sure if I said everything in Spanish correct, or even if any of what I was saying made sense, but I do know for a fact that the spirit was present and all of us in that room needed to hear what I had said.

I want all of you to know that no matter who you are, a member of the church, non member, or even a teacher role playing as an investigator, the spirit always testifys of truth! That is why it is so improtant to act on promptings! You can't do anything without the spirit, but you can do everything with the spirit!

I hope everything is well at home! I pray for all of you every night, and I want all of you to know that I love you!

I have one more journal entry I want to share with you,

We just watched a video about a man that was favored to win the 400 in the olympics. Half way into the race he felt a huge pain and couldn't run anymore. He was determined to finish the race, but he had a real hard time. A man ran past security to go help the man finish the race. That man was his father. He told his son, You don't have to finish and you don't have to do this, but he looked at his dad and said, No dad I do. He then went on and finsished the race by himself.The entire time watching the video I couldn't stop thinking about the Savior and how he suffered and I can gaurantee you that Heavenly Father was there saying, son you don't have to do this, but he said, yes dad I do! I love my Savior and what he did for me! I love him for enacting the atonement that saves us all!

Monday, July 28, 2014

July 28th, 2014

Dear Family,

First of all sorry about all this confusion with the emails, the CCM has been really unpredictable while I've been here, so that is why you are getting an email today. It will normally be on Thursdays, but this week our P-day is on Tuesday because it's independence day today, and the CCM President is taking us to the oldest city in both the Americas here in Peru! It's about 3 hours away, so we won't have anytime to write tomorrow.

Life couldn't be better for me here at the CCM. I am so blessed to be here serving my Savior. I am amazed every day how much I grow and learn. Everything seems to be falling right into place, and I couldn't be happier.

Last P-day we were kind of lost in the middle of the city, because all of the advanced people left us, so my district and I had to use the best Spanish we knew to try to figure out where some of the stores were that we were supposed to go to, but luckily for us all the people here are so kind and understanding, so we found our way.

Saturday was a really cool experience because we got to go out and proselyte! Truly a humility check for me, because I realized how much I have back at home. As I walked past houses that were made of 4 boards and that's it. Even though the people here have so little they are all so happy and so nice. While out proselyting, we contacted 8 different people and set up appointments for them to meet with the missionaries in the area. Everyone here is so receptive to listening to a message about Christ, which I think is way awesome!

Every day I grow so much, and I know that the Lord is helping me all the way. Even when my companion and I are role playing and giving lessons to our teacher words just come to me and it's like I've been speaking like this forever. That is a true testament of the Spirit and the gift of tongues, because I don't know if there is any other way to learn and apply Spanish this fast! I know I am blessed and I thank my Heavenly Father for it everyday!

I love you all and I pray for you! Always remember to keep the Spirit close and listen to the promptings that it gives you. I love this gospel and I know it's true!

Love, Elder Thorpe

P.S. There are so many dogs here! Oh and we literally just had a mini earthquake here!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

July 24th, 2014

Dear Family,

This first week here in Peru has been absolutely fantastic! I arrived lateTuesday night, and got put straight to work! The first day was a bunch of orientation stuff, which normally I'd be way bored during it, but I wasn't because I'm here on the Lords errand serving my Savior. The food here is so wonderful, even though we have juevos every morning and arroz con pollo for every lunch and dinner, but there are more options we can choose from as well.

My second day in we learned so much that I could barely hold it all in, but I think it has all settled in now. We were all interviewed by our branch presidency, and I was called to be the district leader, only my second day in! It has been such a huge blessing already to serve with such valiant young men and women, and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful district that looks to me for advice and help. Oh also on my second day they were giving haircuts, and I didn't think I needed one, but the hair cutting guy tapped my shoulder to get my hair cut. I think he just really wanted to cut my hair.

So that wasn't it for the excitement of Thursday... Some investigators were brought in so that we could teach them, and they were friends of one of the teachers here and they spoke a little English.. Well as we all talked with them, I was prompted to give them a book of Mormon, and so I did! Turns out the next day, one of the investigators was my teacher. That's something I will have to laugh about!

There has been so much going on this week, but I only have such little time, because a lot of our computers are down, so this is what I would like to share with you.

As I have only been here in the CCM for 1 week, I notice Christ and his atonement every single day constantly. It has amazed me as I have stepped back from the world, and I am here now, how many tender mercies I see on a daily basis. I have been blessed so much with the language. It has come to me so easy, and I feel comfortable speaking with a lot of the people here on the streets. There is one language common to everyone, and that is the language of the spirit. I know this because as I went through the temple today I didn't quite understand everything, but I knew exactly what was going on because the spirit was so strong!

I love you all, this Church is true!

Love Elder Thorpe

P.S. sorry I only had 30 minutes to write, so tell everyone I will write them allnext Thursday!

About Me

If you would like to email Austin his email is austin.thorpe@myldsmail.net
If you would like to send him a package\ the mission home address is
Elder Austin Thorpe/
Calle Los Tilos 440/
Urb. California/
Trujillo/
La Libertad/
Peru
Letters should be sent to
SERPOST, Box 122/
Calle Los Tilos 440/
Urb. California/
Trujillo/
La Libertad/
Peru